We have waited too long and too patiently in the shadows for the next daring step Thy Darkened Shade would take in their full length catalog, since for the last nine years we were being occupied with sparse split contributions which were not enough to quench our thirst.
I grossly praised this band in 2014 and their album Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet, which was a follow-up to an absolutely brilliant debut and showed how these guys are among the best, if not the best black metal band of their time. And I was not wrong. Stellar musicianship and compositional dexterity are still the driving factors behind this massive, hymnic, operatic, multi-layered and complex black metal masterpiece that will not simply drop your jaw but it will smash it. Thy Darkened Shade nail it on multiple fronts with varied tempos, rich ideas all over the place, and an excellent range of vocals from harsh growls, to chanting cleans, to King Diamond tribute screams.
You will be bombarded with eclectic guitar lines, very characteristic of the band, wonderful drumming and amazing overall aesthetics. You have not heard black metal like this from any other band on the planet. Without going into the lyrical concepts of the record too much, which you can decide to explore by yourself, it is worth noting how poignant the band sounds when taking things to even more epic heights than before in an album that has the glorious stench of the effort that was put to make it, and wears it like a badge. The sound is naturally perfect, all the instruments are healthily audible and pleasant, but above all, it’s the astounding maze of compositions that leaves the biggest mark here.
Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya is packed to the brim with amazing melodies, its terrifying and intimidating presence glorifies not only the band, which was foolproof from day one, but also the genre itself. The tracks are long and demand attention, but once you cross to the other side you will be recorded with one of the finest releases of this scene for the year and possibly the years to come.
DAMAGE: 4.5/5
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